Indian man in UAE wins 24 crores in lucky draw

Dubai, Mar 04: An Indian man, living in the UAE for the last 15 years, has won a whopping 12 million dirhams (24 crores) in a raffle, the latest addition to the long list of lucky winners from India, a media report said on Thursday.

Shivamurthy Krishnappa, who is a mechanical engineer and hails from Shimoga district of Karnataka, has been living in the UAE for the last 15 years. He bought the winning ticket number 202511 on February 17 this year, the Gulf News reported.

Krishnappa was excited as he watched the draw live from home. When the host Richard called him on his mobile, an elated Krishnappa said: “I am watching the live draw. Thank you so much. I cannot believe I have won,” the report quoted him as saying. He said that he wants to build a house from the winning money of 12 million dirhams.

“I want to build a big house for my family back in my hometown. I have two children aged 10 and 4, so a large part of the money will be put into deposit for their future,” he said.

Krishnappa has been buying the Big Ticket every month for the last three years. “Before I used to share the ticket with friends. For the last one year I have been buying the ticket on my own. This time I bought two tickets as the organisers had a special offer for regular ticket buyers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Big Ticket organisers launched a new look to the live draw.

“We are constantly looking for ways to excite and engage with our customers, whether it be a new prize promotion, social media competitions or the live draw. With so many people currently watching us from the comfort of their homes, we want to make them feel part of our live draw and give more people even more chances to win,” said a spokesperson.

Several Indians in the past have got lucky and won such prizes in the raffle.